A bunch of reports are circulating about a dog that wandered into a Jewish religious court in Jerusalem being sentenced to death by stoning because it was supposedly the reincarnation of a deceased, cursed lawyer.The BBC publicised the story ending it with their own fatuous comment that "Dogs are often considered impure animals in traditional Judaism." Evidently the genius experts at the Beeb don't understand the difference between Judaism, that doesn't take a detrimental view of canines and Islam, which does.
The story, as it turns out, was completely false. Jewish law explicitly forbids cruelty to animals and the rabbi who was accused by the media issued a statement saying there was no excuse for abusing animals according to Jewish religious law or otherwise. He added that workers from a local animal shelter had come to collect the dog from his courtroom that day.
But we probably won't hear the real story from the BBC.
UPDATE: Oh, look..the Beeb did eventually correct it, but not with nearly as much fanfare as they presented the lie. (Thanks to reader Ramona for the update!)
Thanks for posting this. And yes, I'm sure the BBC is not going to post it at all...
ReplyDeleteThey did, actually - but they're blaming the error on someone else and adding a weak apology for trusting their source and not checking the facts.
ReplyDeleteI thought it strange that a animal would be stoned to death...by a Jew. Aren't the Muslims the only ones practicing stoning? Hopefully, the rabbi and the court will launch a defamation lawsuit.
ReplyDeleteDeborah Leigh
I had an orthodox neighbour who owned a dog, and I was surprised. When I spoke to him about it he claimed that according to some talmudic authority dogs and their masters will be reunited in the afterlife following the coming of the messiah. Only humans and dogs will be resurrected.
ReplyDelete